The coronavirus pandemic caused severe alterations to the 2020 Major League Baseball season, but for now that won’t be the case in 2021.
The sport “plans to start on time,” reports Jeff Passan of ESPN, meaning spring training camps opening on Feb. 17 and regular season Opening Day on April 1. The Oakland A’s are scheduled to host the Houston Astros to begin the year.
The pandemic is still ongoing, though the recent introduction of a vaccine now offers concrete hope for a potential end in sight. The Cactus League made a request last week that spring training be delayed because the state of Arizona is being hit particularly hard by infections, and later MLB made an offer to the Players Association that included pushing the schedule back by a month for a 154-game season with full pay.